3/6/09

Tubuai didn’t make it into the Lonely Planet guide for the South Pacific.  There’s not much here and the anchorage is very bouncy in this wind.  Yesterday was overcast all day which didn’t help.

We went ashore  mid morning to see the Gendarme and check in.  By the time we found him he was leaving on an errand and said to come back at 14:00.  Which we did and only waited a few minutes for him to return from his French lunch. He and his colleague managed to make the process take a full hour but it was all good humoured.   We asked about restaurants and they told us of two.  We went to check the first one out in a motel about 25 minute walk from the half a dozen buildings which constitute Centre Ville. It was closed as it was mid afternoon but looked promising.  When you check in here they  take a copy of the document, fold it in thirds, staple it and give it to you to go to the Post Office and buy a stamp. By the time we found La Poste it was closed.  There is a bank with a cash machine which ate Steve’s card.  Fortunately the bank was open and he was able to retrieve it.

Absolutely every single islander waves at you when they pass by car or by  any form of transport.  They are all smiling.  I don’t know what the secret is, but they all appear to be happy. Last night we duly walked to the restaurant only to find it closed. On the way back we heard drumming from the sports centre and watched the local community rehearsing a very elaborately choreographed traditional dance routine.  All generations were there.  About 25 men and 25 women were dancing, often in turns, supported by a chorus of 30-40 and a host of drummers. They were preparing for the inter island contest which is held in Papeete  in July. It was compelling viewing and we stayed for  half an hour. 

We then walked another half and hour or so in the other direction in search of the other restaurant which we eventually found in the middle of nowhere.  She had just closed but said if we wanted Poisson Cru and Chow Mien, she would  oblige. We didn’t argue.  Walking back, we were passed by three cars and I tried to hitch a ride.  They may have waved and smiled by day, but wouldn’t stop by night.

Yesterday I bought a kilo of grapes.  For the equivalent of £8.81.  We’re definitely back in French Polynesia.

According to an out of date pilot book, there are 1600 locals on this 3 miles wide and  5 miles long volcanic island. It is a very fertile, with coffee, copra, banana and oranges grown here.  We saw lots of copra being stacked up on the wharf, but none of the other fruit.

This morning Thiery, a local we met on the road yesterday came to the boat with a little video camera to do an interview for the local TV station.  He is very ecologically minded and asked a few questions about the planet.  He tells us there are 2000 people here spread between  five “cities.”  Among other things, they mine aggregate and ship it to Papeete. The locals can only buy it from Papeete and ship it back, which is a source of discontent.  Mark ups here tend to be 500%. He came below decks to inspect the boat and then had to leave almost immediately as he was getting rapidly seasick in the rolling.  He is from Raviavae and his mother is going to try to find someone to show us around when we get there.

We went ashore to post the customs form and then walked  to a fruit and veg store we had seen last night which is a couple of kilometres down the road.  It turned out to have less than we expected.  This time £8.80 bought a dozen small  bananas   3 bits of some sort of bread which was a bit heavy and sort of cake like, a few peppers and a few tomatoes. Saint Johns Wood doesn’t seem so expensive now.

We will up anchor about 17:00 and head off  the  111 miles toward Raivavae.